Robot Builder’s Bonanza (Tab Electronics) iPad, Android, PC. PDF The word robot is commonly defined as a mechanical device capable of performing human tasks, or behaving in a human-like manner. No argument here. The description certainly fits. But to the robotics experimenter, “robot” has a completely different meaning. A robot is a special brew of motors, solenoids, wires, and assorted electronic odds and ends, a marriage of mechanical and electronic gizmos. Taken together, the parts make a half-living but wholly personable creature that can vacuum the floor, serve drinks, protect the family against intruders and fire, entertain, educate, and lots more. In fact, there’s almost no limit to what a well-designed robot can do. In just about any science, it is the independent experimenter who first establishes the pioneering ideas and technologies. Robert Goddard experimented with liquid-fuel rockets during World War I; his discoveries paved the way for modernday space-flight. In the mid-1920s, John Logie Baird experimented with sending pictures of objects over the airwaves. His original prototypes, which transmitted nothing more than shadows of images, were a precursor to television and video. Robotics—like rocketry, television, and countless other technology-based endeavors—started small. But progress in the field of robots has been painfully slow. Robotics is still a cottage industry, even considering the special-purpose automatons now in wide use in automotive manufacturing. What does this mean for the robotics experimenter? There is plenty of room for growth, with a lot of discoveries yet to be made—perhaps more so than in any other high-tech discipline. Robot Builder’s Bonanza (Tab Electronics) Gordon McComb © 2001, 1987 by Gordon McCombs. All rights reserved. Biography Gordon McComb has written more than 60 books and thousands of magazine articles–more than a million copies of his books are in print, in more than a dozen languages. He’s has been called “The father of hobby robotics” by MAKE Magazine. For 13 years, Gordon wrote a weekly syndicated newspaper column on computers, which reached several million readers worldwide. He’s still a regular contributor to SERVO Magazine, and most recently completed seven years as writer of their popular Robotics Resources column.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 09:18:29 +0000
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